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If you want to destroy the life of your enemy, ask him to go to FNB, ask him to start a restaurant.

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It's from the heart.

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Ah, it's so good to be back again really for yet another episode of the Chris Hansen conversation.

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Season 2 and we're rolling right along with this season. I am so happy because

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at least for the second time for me, I've got this gentleman in my studio and I'm always happy to

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have him with me and he's such a joy to have. And with me, I have the currently retired

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Chef Benny Sito. Welcome to the studio. Hi, thanks for having me. My pleasure, my pleasure.

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It's good to see you. It's good to have you back. The last time we were together, it was in my last

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podcast. Oh okay. If you remember that show, the show that I shall not name. But this is a brand

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new one and I'm so happy to have you back again with me at least. And the last time when we spoke,

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you were together with Chef Imran. Yes. And we heard this, you told us this fantastic story

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of your life and how heroin was part of your life and how you reformed and became the person that

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you are. Yeah. Yeah. And it was a great story. And that's a story, I'm going to be very bold

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about this. That's a story that a lot of people here in Singapore know of. You've wrote your book

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Yeah. About that. You've had a lot of talks that you've given also about that. Yeah. So today,

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I will not be talking about that because I'm pretty sure everybody knows who Chef Benny Sito is.

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I want to know now and for every one of our viewers and listeners, yeah,

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how did you become this person in the culinary world? That story, which I think is going to be

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great for the young people out there who are considering a career in culinary, who are

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considering maybe one day they have dreams, their hopes and ambitions to be restaurateurs. Yeah.

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And yours is such an interesting story because you started in the business kind of late in life.

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So let's go back to the very beginning. How did you land up in culinary? Okay,

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as I think back about my life, I guess God has not given me a lot of gifts,

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but I think God has given me a gift of cooking. He has given me a gift of discernment when I

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eat something, I will be able to decipher, I will be able to know what kind of ingredients

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that got into it. I was just like this expo dancer. There's some happening there. I know some Malay

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families were selling some desserts. They got it from KL and then they're selling the dessert.

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So he gave me one to try. I said, wow, it's quite nice actually. I said, why don't you do it yourself?

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You know, as I taste it, actually I know what is inside the dessert. It's no rocket science.

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Or maybe I think I have this gift. Not everybody might. Oh trust me, Chef, that's a gift.

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Because I would not have been able to tell. So the story goes back in 1990. There was a very big

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earthquake in Turkey. Yeah. You remember? Yeah. So I was in this disaster relief team. A group of

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Singapore doctors and nurses, Malaysian doctors and nurses, they flew to Istanbul to a little town

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in Turkey called Izmit. Izmit, I-Z-A-K-M-I-T, Izmit. Okay. So I was in this disaster relief team. Of

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course, I'm not a doctor or I'm not a nurse. Yeah. So my job is to go to Turkey with this group of

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doctors and nurses and build a tent. I'm going to cook all the meals for the doctors and nurses.

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Of course, it's not about me alone. I have a team also. So we just packed our bags from Singapore and

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then got all our ingredients. And then I remember we can bring anything to Turkey. So nobody would

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stop us. Bring lanchong meat, lap cheong or anything. Oh really? We just bring the whole

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thing to no immigration disturbance. Okay. And then we are actually quite, you know.

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Because you're a relief team. Yeah. Disaster relief team. So every meal, the doctors and nurses,

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when they have their meals, and every time they will come to me, say Benny,

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your cooking is so nice. Why don't you come out and do some cooking? I'm going to cook for you.

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Your cooking is so nice. Why don't you come out and do something about maybe start a food business?

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At that time, I was a dispatch rider. No. Just ride a motorcycle and deliver, you know, letters.

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Sorry Chef, I've got to stop you there. I just need to understand. You were a dispatch rider.

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You ended up on the relief team. Yes. How did that happen? At that time, there was a big earthquake

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and then they need volunteers. So I just, for my kind of work, I deliver letters, I got money. So

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never mind. I parked my motorcycle aside. Through with the team to Turkey and that's

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through cooking. Maybe I love to cook. It's something that I think at that time. So you

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volunteered? I volunteered. So I think I can cook. So I just followed them and then the encouraging

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thing is the doctor said, Benny, wow, your cooking is so fantastic. And then we eat such kind of,

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why don't you maybe come out and do some F&B? What did you cook for them when you were there?

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Cook for them like cook a curry, cook a normal Singaporean family. They will cook some vegetables

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and then some fried egg. And then I remember I fried some kiam hsueh. All the Turkish run away.

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The kiam hsueh was so healthy. So the doctors and nurses, I try to make them feel less homesick

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during that time. So I think I did a good job. And then my point is sometimes you have a gift.

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You need somebody else to remind you, hey, you got this gift of cooking. Then I said,

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there and there, I said, yeah, actually I'm quite good at cooking. Why don't actually,

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I come back this time, come back this time, I come back, maybe I think of something along this line,

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F&B. And then this sparkled that wanting to do something in the F&B business.

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And then later on I started a Chinese restaurant which is

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filled very badly. I'm not satisfied. I think my customer said my food is good and then I

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I did not, I'm not able to do a good business. After all these years with the low back, I guess

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that I do not know how to manage. But Chef, let me try and connect the dots. Turkey, when you were

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there, you were cooking. 1990. Then you've got people who told you, hey, your food's really good.

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1990, Turkey. Correct, in Turkey when you were there. Yeah. So people told you your food's very

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good. And then you realized that, me, me, I've got a gift. Right? And then you came back to Singapore.

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Yes, still doing dispatch riding. Okay, that's what, that's where I'm trying to understand. So

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you were, when came back to Singapore, you were still working as a dispatch rider. Then after that,

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how did that Chinese restaurant come about? Opportunity came, 2005. Okay, so

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that was 15 years later. Yes, that was 1990. I was in Turkey, came back to 2005. Wow, I mean,

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so what were you doing between the time you came back from Turkey? First, I didn't have

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an opportunity. So you were still working? Yes, I'm still working as a dispatch rider.

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But later on, I became an owner of the dispatch company. So I began to be able to save up some money.

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Okay, okay. See, that's why, this is where, this is where I want to really, yeah. So 2005, when

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opportunity arise and I have the money at hand, I said, okay, why not we start a Chinese restaurant.

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Okay, so let's go back to dispatch riding part. Yes. You eventually owned a dispatch riding company,

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or dispatch company. Yes. Okay, how did that happen? How did that happen is,

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I, when I was working as a dispatch rider, I never worked in my life before I, you know, before I was

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even smoking heroin. I usually work one month, two months. I'm not the kind of people come out

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to work for people. Sure. So I, when I released from prison this time, really wants to change,

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then I, to get a job that do not need to go for a job interview, which I very afraid because

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nobody wants to hire an ex-offender during that time. Right. And then I got a job as a dispatch

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rider. Okay, I don't owe you anything. You know, I dispatch, I got 50% commission. That's where I can

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sustain my motorbike and then my pager, and that time it's pager. Petrol. You know, petrol. And then

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I can save, you know, and then later on when the posit, okay, no, it's 1999. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

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It's okay. It's okay. Sorry, sorry. It's not 1990. It's 1999. It's cool. It's cool. Okay. Turkey

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is made, it's 1999. Okay. Right. Right. 2005, opportunity arise. Six years later. Yeah. I

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joined venture with someone to start a Chinese restaurant. Okay. Feel bad. Is it a restaurant or

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coffee shop? It's a restaurant. Restaurant. Restaurant. Without any cooking experience

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in the professional culinary world. Okay. The only time I cook for professionally is the one in Turkey,

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and the one when I was in prison, I was a tea boy. Tea boy, I cook for the officers and the

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superintendent of the prison. So they actually went for audition, hey, this guy can cook, you know,

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so I was a tea boy. So I cook for the superintendent. That means I eat the best food in prison.

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Okay. So with that experience, I started this Chinese restaurant. It's a 200-seater restaurant,

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you know. Wow. It's called Goshien. If you Google, you might be able to get it. G-O-S-H-E-N.

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It's a Chinese restaurant, 200-seaters. Unconsciously, I hired about 90% of ex-offender

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in this team. Also? Yes. So you'll be doing that because you're… Unconsciously. You're popular

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for doing that. Unconsciously. I never planned to do this, but some, you know, when I started my

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Korean company, you know, I hired about 80% ex-offender. It's something that is unspoken,

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something very close to my heart. It's very natural for me. Right. You know, it's very natural for me.

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So it's always been in your blood now? Yeah, yes. When you… Every business you've got.

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Because during that period when I came out from prison, this period, nobody wants to hire

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ex-offender. Right. Nobody wants to hire. Is it different today, do you think? Different today.

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Really? Different today. Now, if you're an employer, you want to hire an ex-offender for you,

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you wait. Because the ex-offender now, they have choices. Really? They don't need to work in the

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F&B industry. They have choices to work in the IT, they work in the logistics industry, or they

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work in… They have choices now. So it's a lot better now. It's a lot better now. A lot, a lot better

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now. Because I guess it's because the government is closing their labor tab. Foreigners are not

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allowed to get quotas to work in Singapore. Right. So employers got no choice. If you're an employer,

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Singapore, there's a lot of employers now. Yeah. You can be an employer anytime. The question you

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ask is who is going to work for you? Yeah. Ex-offender is the best alternative workforce.

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You want to get them, you can't get now. They have better choices. You know. Okay. So you've always

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had that. It's been in your DNA ever since, for every single business you've been in or started

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on your own. Consciously. Yeah. Really. Yeah. I did not plan it, but somehow it's very automatic.

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In my perspective, two persons came for an interview. Both have the same experience.

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You know, and then one is an ex-offender, one is not. I will hire the ex-offender.

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Because the ex-offender will, at that time, have lesser chances to get a job.

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Right. And for you, a normal person, you'll show him, yeah, I don't want you. Right. That's how

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I look at it. Can I just go back to the dispatch company? How did you manage to open that business?

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Because I shared with you just now, I've never worked in my life. Yeah. So the dispatch company,

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when I came out from prison in 1993, I already started doing dispatch until about

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about 2000 something or so doing. I saved up enough money to start my own.

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Oh, so you saved the money to do it? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Dispatch right there. So you didn't take

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like a business loan or nothing like that? No, no, no. I don't take. My goodness. Yes. At that time,

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around that time, before I started the company, I don't even know where's the ATM cards.

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You know, so when I do a start business, I need to know that, oh, okay, ATM I was saved.

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Then when I do dispatch, my customer owe me money. Then for two months, then they pay the last month.

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So I saved up enough to be able to have a healthy cash flow. Right. You know, at that time, actually,

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I'm somehow learning how to do business. It's like a survival kind of thing. Okay. You know,

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okay. Got an ATM card. Okay. Then start a company like that. Yeah. Wow. So you started a dispatch

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company and it ran for how long? It ran for when 205 when I come into the F&B. I started a Chinese

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restaurant. I decided to stop it. It actually is a good business. I think if I'm going to run it,

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every month I can, although I, some months I will have less money because everybody owes me money.

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I have to pay salary. You know, every one month I can get 70,000, no problem. And then with that

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kind of money for the dispatch business, you still decided to close it down and go into F&B? Yes.

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It's a challenge for me. Wow. And you were not thinking about that's how much I stand to lose.

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I was reminded in 1999 by a group of doctors, hey Benny, you really can cook, you know.

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You know, my point is always sometimes you have this gift that you realize you have it,

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you want to pursue it. You know, 205, I failed that business. 205 was for five years old.

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So, 2006, I was four or six years old. I went to Jamie Oliver's restaurant to do an internship.

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And roughly a lot of, with all the kids, 17 years old, 18 years old, you know. Then 2007,

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that's how I started my, actually I don't want to mention the name, 18 Chef. Okay.

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From then on, 2007, and then from then on, how it grows, how it multiplies in Singapore until

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14 hours, do you mind? Please bear with me. Yeah. Please bear with me because I spot quite a number

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of things. So, sometimes I must retrospect, I reverse back. You shut down the dispatch

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riding company. I didn't sell it. You shut it down? I don't want somebody who bought it and then do a bad

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job. Right. Wow. Because for me, my dispatch company, although it's run by me and XO Fanner,

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my guys are X, but we did a good job in the market. Okay. I don't want the reputation to be

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tarnished because I make some money out of this company. So, this means that you were not,

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that's really noble, but you were not afraid to lose whatever you were stably receiving

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in income by closing down that company to pursue your passion. Yeah. Okay. And then you started

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Goshen, the Chinese restaurant. And then how long did that last? Less than a year. Less than a year.

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Wow. Oh, wow. 200-seater restaurant. Less than a year. Did it really hit you hard? I mean,

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in terms of the loss. Okay. Okay. Since you're munching on that, this is something I have to do,

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which I do every episode. So, let me just take a little intermission here. Chef Benny is right

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now munching away at his little munchkins that is sponsored kindly by Gordon's Vadez. Here you go.

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Here you go. Check it out. Yeah. It's Gordon's Vadez. Yes. And it's from his franchisee, Vijay.

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Oh, okay. I don't know Vijay. Yeah. So, Vijay delivers on all of my episodes for all my guests.

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So, I hope you're enjoying that. So, thank you again, Gordon's Vadez. This is where you guys

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have got to really order. You can order online at gordonvadez.com or you can WhatsApp that number

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on the screen. The crispiest, fluffiest damn Vadez in the land. Coming back, now back to the show.

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Let me just continue from where I left off. So, Chef, you closed it down after one year,

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200-seater restaurant, and then you, what was, what was, what was the lesson learned?

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There must have been some lessons. Okay. I guess the failure of the first Chinese restaurant is

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my inexperience of managing a restaurant. Okay. If you look around, if I look around me,

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there's a lot of celebrity chefs who started a restaurant. They can cook them bloody well,

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but when they come into business, they fail. Okay. You know, so that is a lesson for me, managing

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food costs, labor costs, and look at the business differently. You know, so when you're so passionate

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about cooking, you don't care about what kind of ingredients you put in, the most expensive

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ingredients. Of course, you can be a celebrity chef, you know, but what about cooking with

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normal ingredients and you come up with tastier dishes? Okay. I think this is a chef and a business

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person, businessman. I think I, when I run my, later on when I run a successful restaurant, I'm a

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chef and I'm also a businessman. Okay. So, basically the message is very simple. Learn the

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business, learn how to run and manage a business, treat it like a business, and then the passion is

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already there, so it's in kai, isn't it? It is understood. Okay. So that's what you lacked at

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the time when you had Goshen and then what happened after that? Did you, most people,

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most people, well I did, would have just given up. You know, in FNB, right, you got hit so hard,

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they would have just given up, but you didn't. What meat you pick up? I guess at that time,

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I'm still at my, I was at my 40s. Right. I'm hungry. To fear is not an option. Okay.

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I fear in this one, I can't fear. Okay. I'm gonna move the mic a little bit for you so it's easy

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for you. Okay. Yes. You know, so I have to make it work. Right. Putting in 14, 18 hours a day. I

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need to make it work. Doing what? 14, 18 hours a day? In the restaurant business. Okay, but you've

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already closed Goshen. I mean, later on when I start, I'm talking about, right, right. Okay.

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I'm talking about the successful restaurant I ran. Right. Work the hours, you're saying. Yeah,

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working hours, putting in more hours. But how did you get there? After, after Goshen went down.

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Okay. You picked yourself up. You didn't quit. You didn't quit. You didn't quit at yourself.

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And then you had. I came back, I remember straight down, gave me a center page right up.

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About this botai, actually he was cooking at Jamie Oliver's. And you were saying just now you were

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with the 17, 18 year olds. Yeah. And what did you, what did you go through at Jamie Oliver's? What

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did you go through there? I see a lot of things. Can you share that with us? And I see how they

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manage the restaurant. Although I didn't stay there for a long time. Because I'm not paid.

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I go there for internship, I have to pay for my lodging and airfare and everything.

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Oh, when you are, have the gift of, you know, in this area, once you see roughly, you can actually

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learn so much things. Yeah. The first time I actually know what is aglio e olio. Before that,

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I'm a Chinese chef. Yeah. I don't know what is antipasti. So you went there with completely

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zero knowledge of Western culinary. Some of that I learned. Okay. Although in a short time,

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I didn't learn, I did nothing much. Then I came back, I continued to study from the internet about,

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you know, different cooking techniques. So with that experience, with that little branding,

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you know, actually I work in UK with Jamie Oliver. At least you don't give me face,

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give my seafood face, you know. So when I started the restaurant, which I ran successfully,

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there's a lot of help, you know, through my short stint in Jamie Oliver's. Yes. Okay. Okay.

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So you came back after Jamie Oliver's. When you came back,

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you didn't immediately start the restaurant business, right? Again? Came back in 2007.

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Wow. You have a group of investors. That takes a lot of balls, huh?

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Isn't it? I mean, didn't you feel any anxiety to do that? Economic crisis. Yes. Yes. Quite a big one.

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Yeah. Restaurant business, nobody dared to go in. Yeah. And my first outlet was

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this shopping mall in Simei. I also don't know where Simei at the time. So because

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the rental is reasonably okay, we just go in and

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just shoot. So you managed to find investors or did the investors come to find you?

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It's the church friends. Okay. So you didn't as if you worked out a pitch deck and go try funding.

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There's no pitching, there's no business plan, nothing. Really? Just come out some money, let's go.

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Wow. I designed the menu, designed the kitchen and just shoot. He's not going to come out and

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start a restaurant, but I'm more fortunate. From there I grew the business. The first three years

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was a bad business. So from there, all we pick up ourselves again, pick up and then expand,

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got awareness of Singaporeans and begins to like me and support my business more and more.

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Let's talk about the three years you just mentioned. The three years were you guys were

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just breaking even or you guys were you know? Bleeding badly. Bleeding? You're on the red?

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Okay. And then when you're bleeding badly, everybody's got to chip in, right? Yeah.

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I got no money to chip in, I got to owe them a lot of money. Okay. But when we ran out of ideas,

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I remember the third year we were technically bankrupt.

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Oh wow. So my partner said we got zero in the bank. You call a shot Benny,

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how you want to turn the business around? Because for the first three years they ran the

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whole business. Wow. I guess they underestimate me. But you were confident.

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They're all professionals in their own rights. Right. Food business doesn't mean that you are

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successful in the financial institution. You know the market very well. Applying these

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techniques to run FNB, you feel badly. It's not the same thing. Different. So they ran out of ideas.

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So I, he said Benny call a shot. That's how I turn the business around. And what did you do?

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Are you okay with the headphones? Okay, all good. Yeah, I'm trying to get a good position.

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For three years we are marketing food at 80 Chefs. We are not doing well. So I got to change

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another strategy. Okay. Instead of marketing the food, I market myself. So you became the brand.

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That's how. Wow. And then it works. Wow. That is the answer to the success of the whole group.

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Right. Wow. So you made a call to brand you. And can you share with us how exactly did you do that?

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What was it based on? Your own life story. I always look at the banks in Singapore. Right. Okay.

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You have DBS Bank, you got OCBC. Right. UOB.

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When we talk about DBS, you have Mr. Gupta in Mr. Suit. Yeah. Or we talk about at that time UOB or UB.

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Mr. Wee Chow Ya. Yeah. In suit. I was thinking if I'm going to continue to market the food,

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he has not been helping us for three years. So we have to change strategy the last

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shot really. Give it a last shot. It works. During that time, I'm a very shy person.

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I have very low self-esteem. I can't even look at you in your eyes and talk to you, you know.

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I always feel that you are a better person than me. I'm a very lousy. I look down and

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I can't even raise up my head and talk to you. And what I did was I took a photo of myself in

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a shy uniform with my post. You know, you was taller than this. I think as long as this,

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at my Tang Baru Plaza. The portrait of you, you mean.

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I was very shy. I can't talk. You know, I would not hold a sentence with you. I don't know you.

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I always feel very low self-esteem from that on. But you, it was very brave of you. Since you said

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that you have, you're shy, you know, self-esteem is low. But then to take on the task of using you

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as the face of 18 chefs. I know you have. What? Taken quite a lot out of you, isn't it?

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Because we try many ways, many tactics, many strategies to market the place. Can't work.

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Right. The last choice is market myself. So it's quite true, isn't it? That sometimes we all really

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have got to do the things we don't like to do because we really don't have a choice. But we

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know that this could be a solution to turning things around. Correct? Wow. Takes a lot of guts,

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Chef. I use this strategy and then it works. From that on, we continue to grow the business.

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Right. To grow from one dollar to next dollar. Got the profits, return to

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those shares that I need to buy back my share again. And then on, we never take back the money,

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we grow the company and then to a stage where we are able to, we are actually profitable.

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Right. We got a better salary and then with bonuses. Right. That's where I

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got my first condominium and then... Then you started to really grow as a successful

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restaurateur. What kind of advice would you give young aspiring... Let's talk about this for chefs.

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Okay. What do you think you want to say to them? You are a chef. Okay, if you are young,

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if I were you, I would try to go out to the world. Got a chance to go to Europe,

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work for people, get experience. Every year I travel. I love to travel. Travel to different

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places. Yeah, I see that. I see that on your Facebook. Get to expose yourself to different

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kind of working environment. Right. Don't become a chef just because you watch a few

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Gordon Ramsay's... Hell's Kitchen. TV or other day, you think it's glamorous thing again.

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So yeah, if you have, you are very passionate about becoming a chef. Go and travel the world,

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probably get an internship in Europe and work there. Okay. Back and then see what you want to do.

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Okay. How about on the business front? Business front, you need to have a mentor.

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At that time, you have a mentor, I might not be... I might not fall so many time. Okay. You know,

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and then probably you learn from your mentor. And I think it's very important. And if I have a good

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mentor, I would not have... I would have been successful earlier. Earlier. Because there's

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someone for you to emulate. Yeah. There's someone to teach you. Yes. So this is my advice. Are you

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doing that now for anyone? Not that you're retired. I'm giving... I'm still giving consultation. I do

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consultation work. Okay. F&B consultation and then... I consult for a lot of friends. Sometimes when

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you don't trust them, they will fear. I mean, I try to explain that because they want... You know,

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I give them a lot of advices. And then for them, the certain thing I told them is important. They

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just don't give a damn. Anyway, to get this supplier for this, they want all this. This is all in my

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phone. Can you give me a good recipe for fish and? I can give it to you. You know, so there are

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certain things that... Hey, when you go and go to acquire a shop, you must know the provision,

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you know, how much electrical, 150 ampere three phase. And then these are the things that they

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don't want to listen, you know. I got a... I don't want to say client because it's free consultation.

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They want other information. Then the crucial one, they do listen. And then they go to a shop

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without enough provision. For electricity and gas and all. Aircon cannot, exhaust cannot. And then

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when I visit the shop, I say, before you start, do you check all this provision?

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But you did tell them beforehand. Most of them, they were minor in the major.

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And then majoring on all the minor. Hey, where is the... How to do a good fish and? How to do a

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good aglio e olio? These are easily taught. You ask me, I can give you the recipes.

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Right, right. There's important things that I told them. These are important things you must...

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Because you got to set it up. To get a studio like this, you need enough

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power for aircon. So if let's say a restaurant, you don't have aircon, you want to go to a restaurant.

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If the suction is not enough, when you are office, you wear office attire, go to the

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restaurant and eat something, and then your whole sh** smells of their food.

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You think people want to go, and then they don't listen. Why? Because it's free.

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So they have to pay for it in order for them to work on it because they paid money for it, right?

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That's your point. I mean, I give a lot of free consultation. They feel very bad, so I don't give

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anymore. So when you charge them, they will wake up. You know what I mean?

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Because they are invested. You know what I mean?

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Yeah, I do. I do.

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A lot of things are important. You tell them, these are very important.

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Do you want your customer to go to your restaurant, no aircon?

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Or do you want to smell like a stick when you leave the restaurant?

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Or should smell like a rib eye, man? That kind of situation. These are very important.

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But they want a recipe, I can give it to them.

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So these people that, I mean, of course, we're not naming names, but these people that you just,

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you know, stories like this you just cited, you know, they are coming for consultation.

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You tell them they don't listen. Are they still in business?

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Or are they f**king up?

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I remember the one that I told them the provision is important.

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When the second month, first month I go there, the business is slow.

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The second month I went there, I said, Benny, can you take over my restaurant?

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I'm a very blind person. I think she cried.

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Can you take over my restaurant? I'm bleeding very bad.

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Oh, God.

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Maybe you are able to run and help me to bear all the...

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I tell you, give me free also, don't want.

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Because how can I run a restaurant without aircon?

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You know, you have not enough electricity. When you start the aircon, the whole place trip.

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Right.

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You get where you come from, right?

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Yeah. So from the very onset, it wasn't done means you're screwed.

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Screwed? These are the important things. You don't listen to me.

323
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You want the suppliers of all the...

324
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Chef, do you think that's just common sense?

325
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Actually, a lot of things are common sense.

326
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A lot of things are common sense. Marketing for me is common sense.

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How to market the food is common sense.

328
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You have been marketing the food for three years, it doesn't work.

329
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It's common sense to change your strategy to market yourself.

330
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Yeah, okay.

331
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Maybe it's obvious.

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You're not close shop.

333
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Okay, but not everyone. You see, that's the thing. I'm quite marveled by this, you know why?

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Because here you go, a shy person started out in the F&B world, culinary world late,

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failed first time around, and then went to work his way through at Jamie Oliver's

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in an overseas setting, probably was so alien to you, right?

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Travelling out to the UK, you only know how to cook Chinese food.

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And then you have to learn all that. Then you come back.

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And then you have to make a centerpiece of you, which actually would have been the...

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That would have been the killer, you know, when you started your...

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You restarted in the restaurant business again.

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But for someone like you, as you said, shy, and then putting up with it.

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Pick portraiture of yourself on the building.

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Because I look at people who are following me.

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They are, and most of them are ex-offender.

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Yeah.

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And then I'm the leader.

348
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But you were an ex-offender too.

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If I am shy, I can't lead them. I can't articulate what I'm doing.

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I can't articulate my brand. What am I cooking? What are cheese baked rice?

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Who's going to articulate for you?

352
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Yeah, sure.

353
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You know, sure. So I have to force myself to wear this bonus, I would say.

354
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Then from that on, I began to give public speaking.

355
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Of course, the first few times was bad, you know.

356
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And then slowly, I have gained the confidence to speak to any kind of audience.

357
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So basically, it was necessity.

358
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But there was another factor.

359
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The factor is that you've always had it in your blood to give opportunities to ex-offenders.

360
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And you felt that you have to really show them the way.

361
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And you put your best foot forward and put yourself in an uncomfortable position.

362
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Just to lead them. Wow.

363
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It's possible. Even if you are shy, you can't talk, you can change to someone that you can actually articulate.

364
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I mean, for me, it's a very good example.

365
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If you know me, man, 10 years ago or before, during the time when I started my restaurant business, I'm a very shy person.

366
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I can't hold a conversation with anybody.

367
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For one or two sentences, I will be looking down.

368
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Before we started shooting today, we had a chat.

369
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And one thing that caught me during that chat, I'm going to raise it now on camera.

370
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You started in this life at 45.

371
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What advice would you give?

372
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Say someone like me, for instance, I'm 53.

373
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Or anyone out there who's in their middle age.

374
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And they have a dream that they want to pursue.

375
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Should they or should they not?

376
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And if you say they should, what advice would you give?

377
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First you have to ask yourself, are you hungry enough?

378
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You must be very hungry.

379
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You must be very hungry to eat the bad day.

380
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Then you just take it back.

381
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You don't care about your hand or your no consequences.

382
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You just go ahead and try it.

383
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You never try, you never know.

384
00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:15,520
But there's always this fear of failure, right?

385
00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:17,520
There's always this fear of failure.

386
00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:19,520
They've got family as well.

387
00:42:19,520 --> 00:42:27,520
If you ask me if you are able to do things over again, we don't want to come into F&B.

388
00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:29,520
I don't want to.

389
00:42:29,520 --> 00:42:31,520
It's very tough.

390
00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:37,520
I don't know how I survive all these years and make it successful.

391
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:41,520
I really scratch my head, man.

392
00:42:41,520 --> 00:42:43,520
Wow, so difficult. I don't want to.

393
00:42:43,520 --> 00:42:45,520
I'm scared. May I run?

394
00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:57,520
But if you can succeed, it's really, really good.

395
00:42:57,520 --> 00:42:59,520
I've never thought of retirement.

396
00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:03,520
I never thought of one day I'd be able to retire.

397
00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:07,520
I don't have to worry about my next meal.

398
00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:09,520
I don't have to worry about mortgage.

399
00:43:09,520 --> 00:43:11,520
I never thought of that.

400
00:43:11,520 --> 00:43:13,520
I can't say I'm a very rich person.

401
00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:15,520
But I can't say I'm a poor person.

402
00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:17,520
I eat anything, anytime.

403
00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:23,520
If you ask me, man, how tomorrow we go to New York for a holiday, no problem.

404
00:43:23,520 --> 00:43:25,520
I'm able to afford to go.

405
00:43:25,520 --> 00:43:27,520
I don't have to worry about anything.

406
00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:29,520
Everything is paid off, paid.

407
00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:31,520
No mortgage, nothing. No loans.

408
00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:33,520
I am a free person.

409
00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:39,520
I never thought one day I can be sitting here, retired.

410
00:43:39,520 --> 00:43:43,520
But you are, you see. You never thought of it, but you're retired.

411
00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:47,520
So your journey towards retirement, there must have been something,

412
00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:51,520
it must have been somewhere in the back of your head, right?

413
00:43:51,520 --> 00:43:54,520
That I will retire sooner or later.

414
00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:56,520
I never thought of retirement.

415
00:43:56,520 --> 00:44:02,520
But my wife retired when she works for the government.

416
00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:04,520
She's a civil servant.

417
00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:06,520
In 1965 she retired.

418
00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:11,520
And then during that time, just after COVID, when people are allowed to die,

419
00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:13,520
I felt that I'm tired.

420
00:44:13,520 --> 00:44:16,520
I want to spend more time with my wife, you know.

421
00:44:16,520 --> 00:44:19,520
And then we downgraded.

422
00:44:19,520 --> 00:44:23,520
I got an old point block, large.

423
00:44:23,520 --> 00:44:26,520
I was staying, very, you know.

424
00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:28,520
But before that you were living in the...

425
00:44:28,520 --> 00:44:30,520
I'm living in a penthouse.

426
00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:32,520
I have a roof garden.

427
00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:37,520
I tell you, every time when she harvest the cherry tomatoes,

428
00:44:37,520 --> 00:44:39,520
harvest and not pluck, you know.

429
00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:41,520
Far over Bt.

430
00:44:41,520 --> 00:44:45,520
Sweet one, a harvest one.

431
00:44:45,520 --> 00:44:47,520
You got melons, you believe, melons or straight...

432
00:44:47,520 --> 00:44:49,520
No. On your roof garden?

433
00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:53,520
My wife loves all this.

434
00:44:53,520 --> 00:44:57,520
You know, I'm more relaxed in my aircon room.

435
00:44:57,520 --> 00:44:59,520
Don't want to come out too hot.

436
00:44:59,520 --> 00:45:01,520
I don't want to come out living room type.

437
00:45:01,520 --> 00:45:03,520
She will wear like a gardener and she will love...

438
00:45:03,520 --> 00:45:05,520
She loves all that kind of activities.

439
00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:07,520
Okay.

440
00:45:07,520 --> 00:45:11,520
Yeah, now we keep that up.

441
00:45:11,520 --> 00:45:15,520
At my point block, five-room flat, I built her a nursery.

442
00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:19,520
Because there's one part of our space is East Sunder.

443
00:45:19,520 --> 00:45:22,520
Those who grow her plants.

444
00:45:22,520 --> 00:45:27,520
You know, for me, my hobby will be...

445
00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:29,520
You know, you see me on my Facebook.

446
00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:31,520
Take out the guitar.

447
00:45:31,520 --> 00:45:33,520
I would love to...

448
00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:35,520
Imagine I'm Gary Moore and then do some still got a blues.

449
00:45:35,520 --> 00:45:39,520
You know, I gain teal, you know, that kind of...

450
00:45:39,520 --> 00:45:44,520
So I mean, my sixties, these are the things you do when you are a kid.

451
00:45:44,520 --> 00:45:46,520
So when you're after exam, got nothing better to do.

452
00:45:46,520 --> 00:45:52,520
Get your guitar and then listen carefully how you interpret that phrase by Gary Moore.

453
00:45:52,520 --> 00:45:54,520
You know, that dash.

454
00:45:54,520 --> 00:45:56,520
How do I do this?

455
00:45:56,520 --> 00:45:58,520
You know, all right.

456
00:45:58,520 --> 00:46:00,520
You're pretty good actually, to be honest.

457
00:46:00,520 --> 00:46:02,520
Okay. Not bad.

458
00:46:02,520 --> 00:46:04,520
I actually watch and listen, you know.

459
00:46:04,520 --> 00:46:06,520
I try to think...

460
00:46:06,520 --> 00:46:08,520
I try to understand different phrase that Gary Moore makes.

461
00:46:08,520 --> 00:46:10,520
I try to replicate.

462
00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:12,520
Of course I'm not...

463
00:46:12,520 --> 00:46:14,520
Why Gary Moore?

464
00:46:14,520 --> 00:46:17,520
You know, someone who I really respect.

465
00:46:17,520 --> 00:46:21,520
I respect the way, the kind of style he plays.

466
00:46:21,520 --> 00:46:25,520
You know, the loner, still got a blues, his classic.

467
00:46:25,520 --> 00:46:27,520
A lot of his songs I love to be.

468
00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:31,520
Then maybe after that, I'll go into another kind of genre.

469
00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:33,520
I see, I see.

470
00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:35,520
So that's what you do every day.

471
00:46:35,520 --> 00:46:37,520
But now I have a different kind of hobby.

472
00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:39,520
If you follow my Facebook,

473
00:46:39,520 --> 00:46:43,520
once in a while I'll do my glutinous rice lo mai fan.

474
00:46:43,520 --> 00:46:45,520
Okay. Yes.

475
00:46:45,520 --> 00:46:47,520
And then just, I think yesterday,

476
00:46:47,520 --> 00:46:51,520
I just advertise, okay, for next week,

477
00:46:51,520 --> 00:46:54,520
7th to 11th of August, during the week of National Day,

478
00:46:54,520 --> 00:46:56,520
I'm going to sell my lo mai fan.

479
00:46:56,520 --> 00:46:58,520
My lo mai fan is not cheap, $108, 2kg.

480
00:46:58,520 --> 00:47:00,520
Wow.

481
00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:02,520
You have to come and collect, you know.

482
00:47:02,520 --> 00:47:04,520
You don't come and, hey, can you arrange for...

483
00:47:04,520 --> 00:47:06,520
No, no, no, no, no.

484
00:47:06,520 --> 00:47:08,520
Can you divide for me, please?

485
00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:10,520
You don't do all this. You want, you come.

486
00:47:10,520 --> 00:47:12,520
How do they order? How do people like...

487
00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:13,520
PME?

488
00:47:13,520 --> 00:47:15,520
Just PM you?

489
00:47:15,520 --> 00:47:17,520
Okay, everyone cannot PM Chef Ben Isidoh.

490
00:47:17,520 --> 00:47:19,520
I don't do every day.

491
00:47:19,520 --> 00:47:21,520
I don't do. I feel,

492
00:47:21,520 --> 00:47:24,520
wow, this week maybe nothing much can do.

493
00:47:24,520 --> 00:47:26,520
So I'm asking my wife, I want to do.

494
00:47:26,520 --> 00:47:29,520
Because we are not doing it for the money,

495
00:47:29,520 --> 00:47:31,520
doing it for the...

496
00:47:31,520 --> 00:47:35,520
I want to do it to continue to improve my craft.

497
00:47:35,520 --> 00:47:36,520
You know.

498
00:47:36,520 --> 00:47:38,520
Even after retirement.

499
00:47:38,520 --> 00:47:40,520
Yes. You know, when I...

500
00:47:40,520 --> 00:47:43,520
Tomorrow I have, let's say for some day,

501
00:47:43,520 --> 00:47:45,520
tonight I can't sleep, you know.

502
00:47:45,520 --> 00:47:47,520
I'm very excited, you know.

503
00:47:47,520 --> 00:47:49,520
I will think of how I'm going to work,

504
00:47:49,520 --> 00:47:51,520
what technique I'm going to use,

505
00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:53,520
and then what time I wake up and what to do.

506
00:47:53,520 --> 00:47:56,520
Actually, it saves a lot of my energy, you know.

507
00:47:56,520 --> 00:47:58,520
Because there's one time I do for a few weeks.

508
00:47:58,520 --> 00:48:01,520
Wow, I think I told my wife I'm not going to do anymore.

509
00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:03,520
Takes too much of our time.

510
00:48:03,520 --> 00:48:05,520
We are retiring, you know.

511
00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:07,520
We shouldn't have been doing this.

512
00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:10,520
We should just do some nature walks.

513
00:48:10,520 --> 00:48:12,520
Because you know, my house,

514
00:48:12,520 --> 00:48:14,520
we can walk to the Gilman Barracks.

515
00:48:14,520 --> 00:48:15,520
Yeah, yeah.

516
00:48:15,520 --> 00:48:16,520
Henderson.

517
00:48:16,520 --> 00:48:17,520
Yeah.

518
00:48:17,520 --> 00:48:19,520
We can walk the Green Corridor.

519
00:48:19,520 --> 00:48:21,520
We got so many things to do.

520
00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:24,520
So just yesterday, I posted after a few hours,

521
00:48:24,520 --> 00:48:26,520
all sold out.

522
00:48:26,520 --> 00:48:29,520
So next week I'll be quite busy.

523
00:48:29,520 --> 00:48:31,520
Wow, super, boy.

524
00:48:31,520 --> 00:48:32,520
Cooking, Laumai Fun.

525
00:48:32,520 --> 00:48:36,520
And my Laumai Fun is really damn good.

526
00:48:36,520 --> 00:48:37,520
Okay, pretty sure.

527
00:48:37,520 --> 00:48:38,520
Next time you're doing this again,

528
00:48:38,520 --> 00:48:39,520
I'll put it up on Facebook.

529
00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:40,520
I'll look out for it.

530
00:48:40,520 --> 00:48:42,520
Yes, but I put a few hours, all sold out.

531
00:48:42,520 --> 00:48:43,520
Oh boy.

532
00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:45,520
Like hotcakes, man.

533
00:48:45,520 --> 00:48:47,520
You know, so okay.

534
00:48:47,520 --> 00:48:49,520
I think a lot, I have a lot of fans.

535
00:48:49,520 --> 00:48:50,520
But why did you sell?

536
00:48:50,520 --> 00:48:52,520
Okay, you sold the penthouse.

537
00:48:52,520 --> 00:48:53,520
To downgrade.

538
00:48:53,520 --> 00:48:54,520
Huh?

539
00:48:54,520 --> 00:48:55,520
To downgrade.

540
00:48:55,520 --> 00:48:56,520
Okay.

541
00:48:56,520 --> 00:48:58,520
And your wife was okay with that.

542
00:48:58,520 --> 00:48:59,520
Okay, okay, okay.

543
00:48:59,520 --> 00:49:01,520
Lost the loose garden and all that.

544
00:49:01,520 --> 00:49:05,520
She always complained to me because my penthouse is 1833 square feet.

545
00:49:05,520 --> 00:49:06,520
Wow, that's big.

546
00:49:06,520 --> 00:49:07,520
One by two.

547
00:49:07,520 --> 00:49:08,520
Okay.

548
00:49:08,520 --> 00:49:09,520
Our rental is huge.

549
00:49:09,520 --> 00:49:13,520
My rental for my ground 29th floor is 400.

550
00:49:13,520 --> 00:49:17,520
The space is huge, but my living space is very little.

551
00:49:17,520 --> 00:49:18,520
Right, right, right.

552
00:49:18,520 --> 00:49:21,520
You know, upstairs is about 500 square feet.

553
00:49:21,520 --> 00:49:23,520
Then my below.

554
00:49:23,520 --> 00:49:28,520
So when my wife, all this stuff felt very claustrophobic, you know.

555
00:49:28,520 --> 00:49:31,520
It's a three-bedder, three toilets, you know.

556
00:49:31,520 --> 00:49:34,520
So when I moved to this penthouse, she was so happy.

557
00:49:34,520 --> 00:49:36,520
She was so happy.

558
00:49:36,520 --> 00:49:37,520
She was so happy.

559
00:49:37,520 --> 00:49:39,520
She said, wow, I can really breathe.

560
00:49:39,520 --> 00:49:41,520
You know, it's so, so well.

561
00:49:41,520 --> 00:49:42,520
So we come back to basic.

562
00:49:42,520 --> 00:49:45,520
We want to go back to basic, you know.

563
00:49:45,520 --> 00:49:48,520
And then we live simply, you know.

564
00:49:48,520 --> 00:49:50,520
But we can travel.

565
00:49:50,520 --> 00:49:52,520
My wife was so okay with traveling.

566
00:49:52,520 --> 00:49:55,520
And then we just, we just travel.

567
00:49:55,520 --> 00:50:01,520
Last two years when the pandemic opened up for traveling, wow, we really travel quite a lot.

568
00:50:01,520 --> 00:50:02,520
Okay.

569
00:50:02,520 --> 00:50:03,520
Ever travel.

570
00:50:03,520 --> 00:50:06,520
And then your next passion is your bikes.

571
00:50:06,520 --> 00:50:09,520
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

572
00:50:09,520 --> 00:50:10,520
Quite a rocker, Chef.

573
00:50:10,520 --> 00:50:11,520
Yes.

574
00:50:11,520 --> 00:50:19,520
I, when I retired in 2001, I bought a Harley Davidson Pan America.

575
00:50:19,520 --> 00:50:21,520
It's a damn lousy bike.

576
00:50:21,520 --> 00:50:24,520
I nearly, three months I bought, I paid $70,000.

577
00:50:24,520 --> 00:50:26,520
Not boasting.

578
00:50:26,520 --> 00:50:30,520
And then three months the bike arrived.

579
00:50:30,520 --> 00:50:37,520
And for the first three months, two and a half months in Harley workshop.

580
00:50:37,520 --> 00:50:40,520
Oh my goodness.

581
00:50:40,520 --> 00:50:42,520
At that time I was very mad.

582
00:50:42,520 --> 00:50:44,520
I really want to sue them.

583
00:50:44,520 --> 00:50:46,520
I bought a lemon.

584
00:50:46,520 --> 00:50:50,520
Then I look at the consequences.

585
00:50:50,520 --> 00:50:52,520
I don't want to put myself into limelight again.

586
00:50:52,520 --> 00:50:56,520
So I sued it at about 40K.

587
00:50:56,520 --> 00:50:58,520
Three months I lost.

588
00:50:58,520 --> 00:51:02,520
Then I told myself I would never ride any bike anymore.

589
00:51:02,520 --> 00:51:11,520
So when I retired and recently I bought a Ducati.

590
00:51:11,520 --> 00:51:13,520
Okay, I enjoy.

591
00:51:13,520 --> 00:51:17,520
I enjoy, enjoy, enjoy riding the Ducati.

592
00:51:17,520 --> 00:51:22,520
So much for not wanting to ride a bike anymore.

593
00:51:22,520 --> 00:51:23,520
So, you know, I mean, retiree.

594
00:51:23,520 --> 00:51:28,520
So I actually, maybe I'm trying to justify.

595
00:51:28,520 --> 00:51:33,520
I asked myself, you want to be a Lepa kind of passive retiree?

596
00:51:33,520 --> 00:51:35,520
I want to be very active.

597
00:51:35,520 --> 00:51:36,520
So you want to be passive?

598
00:51:36,520 --> 00:51:38,520
Don't buy.

599
00:51:38,520 --> 00:51:39,520
Everyday Lepa at home.

600
00:51:39,520 --> 00:51:41,520
Play Gary Ma.

601
00:51:41,520 --> 00:51:42,520
So you want to be active.

602
00:51:42,520 --> 00:51:46,520
It's like get your motorbike, climb, go and drink kopi with your friends.

603
00:51:46,520 --> 00:51:47,520
That kind of thing.

604
00:51:47,520 --> 00:51:50,520
So this is what I'm doing.

605
00:51:50,520 --> 00:51:51,520
And you're having fun.

606
00:51:51,520 --> 00:51:52,520
Having fun.

607
00:51:52,520 --> 00:51:57,520
Do you miss, besides the time when you put out your orders to cook.

608
00:51:57,520 --> 00:51:59,520
Do you miss the daily grind?

609
00:51:59,520 --> 00:52:01,520
Do you miss, you know, all that?

610
00:52:01,520 --> 00:52:07,520
Actually, I, it is, there's the time for you to be.

611
00:52:07,520 --> 00:52:14,520
There's a time for you to really see how you accumulate some money, save some money.

612
00:52:14,520 --> 00:52:19,520
There's a time you think of buying cars.

613
00:52:19,520 --> 00:52:24,520
I mean, you know, probably I have been poor since young.

614
00:52:24,520 --> 00:52:33,520
When I see the first stash of money I bought, every year I change a German car.

615
00:52:33,520 --> 00:52:34,520
Wow.

616
00:52:34,520 --> 00:52:35,520
Brand new German.

617
00:52:35,520 --> 00:52:36,520
Every year.

618
00:52:36,520 --> 00:52:37,520
Except Audi.

619
00:52:37,520 --> 00:52:40,520
I don't know why.

620
00:52:40,520 --> 00:52:42,520
I'm not against Audi.

621
00:52:42,520 --> 00:52:47,520
I got the Porsche, got the Mercedes, brand new.

622
00:52:47,520 --> 00:52:51,520
Then got the BMWs, all brand new.

623
00:52:51,520 --> 00:52:54,520
Then Sian already, after one year.

624
00:52:54,520 --> 00:52:57,520
Drive Range Rover.

625
00:52:57,520 --> 00:52:59,520
From Germany you went to England.

626
00:52:59,520 --> 00:53:00,520
German cars are better.

627
00:53:00,520 --> 00:53:04,520
British car, technology, loads to the Germans.

628
00:53:04,520 --> 00:53:05,520
Yeah, technology wise.

629
00:53:05,520 --> 00:53:07,520
I drove a Range Rover.

630
00:53:07,520 --> 00:53:08,520
The villa.

631
00:53:08,520 --> 00:53:09,520
Were trouble free?

632
00:53:09,520 --> 00:53:12,520
High spec edition HSC.

633
00:53:12,520 --> 00:53:13,520
Trouble free.

634
00:53:13,520 --> 00:53:15,520
I think they're more trouble free.

635
00:53:15,520 --> 00:53:20,520
Their electronics got problem.

636
00:53:20,520 --> 00:53:22,520
Just like the Harley I bought.

637
00:53:22,520 --> 00:53:23,520
Really.

638
00:53:23,520 --> 00:53:27,520
They can't solve the bloody electronic problem.

639
00:53:27,520 --> 00:53:29,520
Then they don't launch.

640
00:53:29,520 --> 00:53:31,520
So there's a new, new model.

641
00:53:31,520 --> 00:53:32,520
New model.

642
00:53:32,520 --> 00:53:33,520
It's called the Panac.

643
00:53:33,520 --> 00:53:35,520
I'm not a bike guy so I really don't know.

644
00:53:35,520 --> 00:53:39,520
When you ride an adventure bike, you climb, you tip toe.

645
00:53:39,520 --> 00:53:44,520
When you start your bike, straight your bike, goes down.

646
00:53:44,520 --> 00:53:45,520
You're flat footed.

647
00:53:45,520 --> 00:53:49,520
I thought of this technology as salivate.

648
00:53:49,520 --> 00:53:53,520
I'm the only one that's going to drive that.

649
00:53:53,520 --> 00:53:54,520
Outrides.

650
00:53:54,520 --> 00:53:56,520
So the thing doesn't go down.

651
00:53:56,520 --> 00:53:57,520
Goes down.

652
00:53:57,520 --> 00:54:02,520
But first three months, two and a half months in the bookshop.

653
00:54:02,520 --> 00:54:08,520
I remember I dropped it once and I tried to lift it up.

654
00:54:08,520 --> 00:54:10,520
I got my frozen shoulder for two over years.

655
00:54:10,520 --> 00:54:11,520
Really?

656
00:54:11,520 --> 00:54:15,520
I mean I rode BM bikes.

657
00:54:15,520 --> 00:54:16,520
Holy shit.

658
00:54:16,520 --> 00:54:19,520
All the adventure bikes.

659
00:54:19,520 --> 00:54:24,520
Anything drop, the center of gravity of the machine makes it very easy for us to just

660
00:54:24,520 --> 00:54:26,520
say nothing.

661
00:54:26,520 --> 00:54:31,520
This one really, maybe I'm not cut out for riding Harley's.

662
00:54:31,520 --> 00:54:34,520
Before we end the show, Chef, any plans?

663
00:54:34,520 --> 00:54:37,520
Do you have any plans worth mentioning?

664
00:54:37,520 --> 00:54:49,520
Worth mentioning, okay, when I was running a business, I never thought of passive income.

665
00:54:49,520 --> 00:54:54,520
So I risked going, what for I want to think about this?

666
00:54:54,520 --> 00:55:01,520
So after I retired, I mean like what I said, I can't say I'm poor.

667
00:55:01,520 --> 00:55:03,520
I can't say I'm very rich.

668
00:55:03,520 --> 00:55:05,520
But I don't lack anything really.

669
00:55:05,520 --> 00:55:08,520
The Lord provides me with almost everything.

670
00:55:08,520 --> 00:55:11,520
So now I start to think about passive income.

671
00:55:11,520 --> 00:55:19,520
So now I'm learning how to invest in property.

672
00:55:19,520 --> 00:55:22,520
You might not be buying big houses or what.

673
00:55:22,520 --> 00:55:24,520
So I'm doing some co-living spaces.

674
00:55:24,520 --> 00:55:25,520
Very interesting.

675
00:55:25,520 --> 00:55:27,520
I do a lot.

676
00:55:27,520 --> 00:55:29,520
Something that I can invest.

677
00:55:29,520 --> 00:55:33,520
I can see my properties.

678
00:55:33,520 --> 00:55:37,520
It's not like something crypto depends on whatever for.

679
00:55:37,520 --> 00:55:39,520
Suddenly you become a rich man.

680
00:55:39,520 --> 00:55:40,520
And suddenly you, wow.

681
00:55:40,520 --> 00:55:41,520
Gone.

682
00:55:41,520 --> 00:55:44,520
I'm not an investor of such.

683
00:55:44,520 --> 00:55:46,520
I don't speculate.

684
00:55:46,520 --> 00:55:49,520
I want to speculate myself.

685
00:55:49,520 --> 00:55:53,520
So you're looking towards finding if you're interested in property you get passive income.

686
00:55:53,520 --> 00:55:54,520
I'm doing co-living.

687
00:55:54,520 --> 00:55:56,520
Quite okay there.

688
00:55:56,520 --> 00:55:57,520
Quite okay.

689
00:55:57,520 --> 00:55:59,520
I'm not promoting co-living.

690
00:55:59,520 --> 00:56:12,520
Something I find that if I would have no such kind of passive income, I would have do it while I'm running my business.

691
00:56:12,520 --> 00:56:13,520
I would have to spend a lot of time.

692
00:56:13,520 --> 00:56:21,520
It just generates some funds and then it's better than putting it in the bank.

693
00:56:21,520 --> 00:56:26,520
So basically you're saying that, I mean, do you feel then that you should have done that earlier?

694
00:56:26,520 --> 00:56:27,520
Yeah.

695
00:56:27,520 --> 00:56:28,520
So now I'm doing it.

696
00:56:28,520 --> 00:56:31,520
It's never too late to do something crazy.

697
00:56:31,520 --> 00:56:32,520
So you're really...

698
00:56:32,520 --> 00:56:33,520
Not really crazy.

699
00:56:33,520 --> 00:56:34,520
You ask me a question.

700
00:56:34,520 --> 00:56:40,520
If you're in your 50s, 60s, you want to start something.

701
00:56:40,520 --> 00:56:42,520
If you're hungry, you start.

702
00:56:42,520 --> 00:56:45,520
You think you can...

703
00:56:45,520 --> 00:56:52,520
Even if it's a loss, you are able to do it.

704
00:56:52,520 --> 00:56:55,520
You don't go and borrow money and go and do any investment or anything.

705
00:56:55,520 --> 00:56:56,520
Never, never.

706
00:56:56,520 --> 00:56:58,520
So you save up and do it.

707
00:56:58,520 --> 00:56:59,520
Yeah, save up and do it.

708
00:56:59,520 --> 00:57:00,520
You have some money.

709
00:57:00,520 --> 00:57:02,520
Better than putting it in the bank.

710
00:57:02,520 --> 00:57:03,520
Right.

711
00:57:03,520 --> 00:57:04,520
You know, that kind of...

712
00:57:04,520 --> 00:57:05,520
Right.

713
00:57:05,520 --> 00:57:07,520
So you've really, really retired.

714
00:57:07,520 --> 00:57:08,520
I really retired.

715
00:57:08,520 --> 00:57:09,520
Wow.

716
00:57:09,520 --> 00:57:10,520
I'm not joking.

717
00:57:10,520 --> 00:57:11,520
Wow.

718
00:57:11,520 --> 00:57:15,520
And at first it was quite difficult, but now I'm enjoying.

719
00:57:15,520 --> 00:57:18,520
You know, happy for you, Chef.

720
00:57:18,520 --> 00:57:19,520
Happy for you.

721
00:57:19,520 --> 00:57:23,520
And I really want to thank you again for being on my show, this time this show.

722
00:57:23,520 --> 00:57:26,520
And really, it's really nice seeing you again.

723
00:57:26,520 --> 00:57:28,520
And really, everything you say is always genuine.

724
00:57:28,520 --> 00:57:29,520
It's always really from the heart.

725
00:57:29,520 --> 00:57:30,520
And I can tell.

726
00:57:30,520 --> 00:57:32,520
I really didn't have to talk much today.

727
00:57:32,520 --> 00:57:34,520
And it's always a great thing about having you around.

728
00:57:34,520 --> 00:57:36,520
I don't have to talk so much.

729
00:57:36,520 --> 00:57:37,520
I think you probed the right questions.

730
00:57:37,520 --> 00:57:39,520
I mean, we never planned for this.

731
00:57:39,520 --> 00:57:40,520
No.

732
00:57:40,520 --> 00:57:41,520
I don't know what I'm going to talk.

733
00:57:41,520 --> 00:57:42,520
That's not a fact.

734
00:57:42,520 --> 00:57:43,520
Or ask you.

735
00:57:43,520 --> 00:57:44,520
You probed.

736
00:57:44,520 --> 00:57:45,520
I've got to tell you.

737
00:57:45,520 --> 00:57:50,520
I prepared ten questions here, upon which I only used one.

738
00:57:50,520 --> 00:57:52,520
And that was the first question I asked you.

739
00:57:52,520 --> 00:57:53,520
After that, I forget it already.

740
00:57:53,520 --> 00:57:58,520
Because you were basically telling me everything I think we all ought to know.

741
00:57:58,520 --> 00:58:00,520
You know, and that's really, really great.

742
00:58:00,520 --> 00:58:02,520
And here's the takeaway I have.

743
00:58:02,520 --> 00:58:09,520
The takeaway is, like what you said, if you have a real passion and you're hungry,

744
00:58:09,520 --> 00:58:11,520
just go and do it.

745
00:58:11,520 --> 00:58:16,520
Amongst other things, if you're going to go to F&B, don't be stupid.

746
00:58:16,520 --> 00:58:19,520
Do your homework before you do anything.

747
00:58:19,520 --> 00:58:22,520
If you want to destroy the life of your enemy,

748
00:58:22,520 --> 00:58:24,520
ask him to go to F&B.

749
00:58:24,520 --> 00:58:26,520
Ask him to start a restaurant.

750
00:58:26,520 --> 00:58:31,520
It's from the heart.

751
00:58:31,520 --> 00:58:39,520
That's a great way to end the show.

752
00:58:39,520 --> 00:58:44,520
So once again, everyone, I've had the pleasure of having Chef Benny Sitoh with me.

753
00:58:44,520 --> 00:58:46,520
I still call him Chef.

754
00:58:46,520 --> 00:58:48,520
I don't care whether he's retired or not.

755
00:58:48,520 --> 00:58:51,520
As far as I'm concerned, that title has been conferred on him.

756
00:58:51,520 --> 00:58:52,520
And it will always stay with him.

757
00:58:52,520 --> 00:58:54,520
So thank you again, Chef Benny.

758
00:58:54,520 --> 00:58:59,520
And I hope you guys enjoyed this little tete-a-tete that the two of us have been having.

759
00:58:59,520 --> 00:59:02,520
And once again, thank you to Gordon's Vade.

760
00:59:02,520 --> 00:59:04,520
It's been really, really nice.

761
00:59:04,520 --> 00:59:06,520
Please do continue to send them out away.

762
00:59:06,520 --> 00:59:08,520
As you can see, Chef Benny was munching away.

763
00:59:08,520 --> 00:59:09,520
He was loving it.

764
00:59:09,520 --> 00:59:19,520
And everyone else, please do subscribe to CCB TV podcasts in YouTube.

765
00:59:19,520 --> 00:59:24,520
And also follow us on Facebook, at CCB TV.

766
00:59:24,520 --> 00:59:27,520
We're also on Instagram, ccb.tv underscore.

767
00:59:27,520 --> 00:59:31,520
And surprisingly, we're on TikTok as well, at CCB TV.

768
00:59:31,520 --> 00:59:33,520
This is Chris Hansen.

769
00:59:33,520 --> 00:59:41,520
Whatever you do, don't just drop into the F&B business without thinking.

770
00:59:41,520 --> 00:59:43,520
Don't go there.

771
00:59:43,520 --> 00:59:44,520
Thank you so much for watching.

772
00:59:44,520 --> 00:59:48,520
I'll see you again soon, next week, for the next episode.

773
00:59:48,520 --> 00:59:49,520
Bye bye.

774
00:59:49,520 --> 01:00:11,520
Mmm.